South Korea positions artificial intelligence as a national competitiveness initiative, focusing on domestic capability building, workforce preparation, and inclusive access to drive a transformative shift in education, work, and public services.

The country is accelerating AI development through a state-supported competition among internal teams to build an indigenous AI platform, featuring six-month elimination rounds to rapidly advance and cultivate domestic capabilities.

The strategy envisions AI as universal infrastructure accessible to all citizens, moving beyond AI as a niche technology for labs and tech firms.

Experts warn that broad AI adoption could widen social inequality if access to high-quality models, data, computing power, and skills is uneven, making policy design critical to ensure inclusive benefits.

A key strategic motivation is closing the gap with the US and China in the AI value chain, addressing vulnerabilities in hardware versus software, platforms, and large-scale AI models.

The strategy emphasizes not just speed but safer AI development, with leaders arguing for faster progress to safeguard competitiveness while exploring how AI could potentially reduce inequality by enabling higher-value work and new opportunities.

The national AI push is backed by a substantial increase in the 2027 budget for science and ICT, rising by 25% to 29.6 trillion won (about $21.8 billion), including funds to purchase 10,000 Nvidia Vera Rubin chips.

Leading telecoms and tech firms SK Telecom, KT, and Kakao were selected to pilot the program, with initial chatbots for businesses expected by year-end and more advanced assistants to follow, aiming to reduce reliance on foreign AI ecosystems.

Public adoption signals are strong: 74% of South Koreans are excited about AI products, and roughly 24 million monthly ChatGPT users in Korea (about 46% of the population) indicate rapid integration into daily life.

Under Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon, the government aims to provide free AI services to 51.6 million people through the AI for Everyone program and to build a domestically developed AI ecosystem prioritizing Korea-made models and chatbots.